


Revelations

by bubbleslayer



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-06
Updated: 2011-04-06
Packaged: 2017-10-17 16:43:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/178889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubbleslayer/pseuds/bubbleslayer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim has a few revelations during a busy Wednesday afternoon.</p><p>Takes place early Season Three.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Revelations

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to 852 Prospect on 8/31/03 under my (short-lived) former username Rowan Mac.
> 
> POV = first person - Jim

He never ceases to amaze me. Every time I think I know everything there is to know about him he blindsides me. It's a typical Wednesday, almost two weeks after Thanksgiving. Blair was on break from the University and of course he chose to spend this downtime in my back pocket instead of relaxing or traveling like the rest of his university friends. So there we were, at the scene of a robbery gone bad at the mall. The place had been filled with holiday shoppers on their lunch hours. The robber had decided the toy store would be ripe for the picking and went in with a shotgun under his trench coat. I couldn't help but sigh, what was next, metal detectors at the door to the mall? I was really starting to worry about the state of humanity, but then Blair crossed my sight path and I remembered why I allow myself to hope. As long as there were people in the world like my best friend, we have a chance.

Anyway, the man, one Rick Parkman, had gone into C & M Toy Co., planning to take the cash from the register and somehow make it quickly and safely out of the crowded mall, at noon, on a Wednesday, a few weeks before Christmas. Genius, just genius.

The people in the store had panicked and the clerk had hit the silent alarm, which, unfortunately wasn't so silent. As soon as the alarms went off Parkman panicked. Panicked robber, panicked shoppers and employees, wonderful combination. Mall security was there in a matter of seconds and of course the rent-a-cops managed to turn it into a nice little hostage situation.

By the time we got there the situation was 15 minutes old. (Another reason to thank Sandburg, we been having lunch at a new Mongolian restaurant nearby). We were just stepping off the escalator outside the store when the shotgun went off. I flinched at the sound, it was loud and unexpected, but Blair placed his hand as the small of my back and everything was fine. I immediately scanned the inside of the store. I counted a total of 10 heartbeats. They were all beating fast and I really couldn't tell which one belonged to the gunman. I shuttered when I realized that at least two of the heartbeats belonged to children. Then I focused my sight and could see one man standing near the check-out counter, the rest of the people were on the floor. One woman was bleeding. He opened the shotgun, pulled the spent shell and then closed it again. I made a note that the man hadn't replaced the spent one. He apparently hadn't thought to bring extra ammo. That was a very good thing, he hadn't really planned on violence, at least not a bloodbath, if that was any consolation.

Blair took on the role of hostage negotiator without a second thought. It was so against protocol I really hoped the brass didn't find out about it, but the normal negotiator was stuck in traffic. Hard to believe a city like Cascade, that was 'chock full o' nuts' only had one licenced hostage negotiator, but it was true. Budget cuts were apparently the order of the day. I needed to keep myself focused elsewhere and we really didn't have any other choice. Armed with my theory that the man only had one shell left and the total number of people in the store Blair got the man talking, it's what he does best after all, and his psych minor should count for something right? Let's hope the Mayor thinks so. Pretty soon they were chatting away like old friends. I am always amazed at Blair's ability to turn the most unlikely people into friends. Turns out the guy was a city employee who'd been laid off last month. His wife was a few days away from having their first child and he was desperate for cash. Blair commiserated with him, then told him about all the different agencies and avenues available to him for support. Turns out the guy never gave a thought to government support, nope, he jumped right to armed robbery. Well, by the time Sandburg was done with him Parkman was ready to do his time and sign his wife and as yet unborn child up for WIC.

There was only one casualty. A woman standing near to Parkman was hit on the head with debris when the shotgun had been fired in panic early on. She had a pretty serious concussion and had been unconscious through the whole thing. I watched as one by one they were led away from the scene. Parkman in handcuffs, the woman on a gurney, and the rest to the food court at the end of the concourse. It was a few minutes later when we were finishing up our statements to the uniforms that Blair tensed up and excused us.

"Uh, Jim?"

"Yeah Chief?"

"Didn't you say there were 10 people in the store?"

"Yeah, why?"

Blair didn't answer me, he just turned and headed for the entrance to the store. He spoke a few words with the EMT who was organizing the triage. He apparently didn't like the answer and jogged back over to me.

"Nine."

"What?"

"According to Simmons over there they've taken nine people out of that store, including Parkman. Where's the tenth?"

Wow, I missed that, guess this was just one of those days it was really good to have Sandburg around. I went back over to the uniforms to see if they had cleared the scene, they said they had before the paramedics had been allowed to go in. Hmm, so where, and more importantly who was this tenth person. Before I could even think about turning my hearing back to the store a young man, a boy really, about 7 or 8 years old stepped out. He looked scared shitless and his heart was beating a mile a minute, how had I missed that? His eyes were as big as saucers and he seemed to be looking around for someone. The EMT's got to him before we could and hustled him off to the food court to be checked over.

"Nice catch Chief, I never thought to count them. And I never heard that kids heartbeat either, not until he came out anyway."

He blushed, the man was almost 30 and he was blushing over a simple compliment on a job well done. I must not do that enough. Note to self, praise Sandburg more often. At the very least it will keep him off balance. His blush, and a look of shocked pride lasted only seconds though.

"Aw, it was nothing. I knew something wasn't adding up but I couldn't put my finger on it. I was so focused on Parkman. Oh, and Jim, don't beat yourself up about me being the one to spot the problem, it must be hell for you in here. All this stimulation must be reeking havoc with your senses. Besides, the kid came out on his own, it's not like it made any difference."

Only Blair. Only he could shrug off a compliment and in the same breath excuse me for screwing up while putting himself down. Has he always done this? No, I may not be the most emotionally open man on Earth, but I'd have noticed this level of self-esteem problem before now. I mean, I've known him for three years, there's no way I could be that dense. I'll have to ask Simon about it later. And more importantly, if I'm was right, and this was a new thing, where had it come from. Blair was always very self assured, always positive. No, there isn't any need to talk to Simon. Something is going on with my Guide, I just have to figure out what.

We made our way down to the food court for one final check that everyone was okay before heading out. Blair headed straight for the young boy who'd come out so long after the others.

"Hey Simmons, how's our little buddy doing?"

The EMT sighed and turned away from his patient.

"Hey Blair, physically he's fine, not even so much as a scratch, psychologically, I don't know. He hasn't said a word since he came out, doesn't respond to any of my questions. And worse yet, none of the others know him. We asked the employees and the customers, they don't know him and don't remember seeing him come into the store."

During Simmons' answer Blair kept eye contact with the young boy. He moved to kneel in front of him and had to push the veteran EMT out of the way. Simmons came to stand by me and we watched Blair go to work. Both of us expected quick results, we were wrong. Blair introduced himself, myself and Simmons just in case. He assured the young boy that the bad man had been taken away and couldn't hurt him. When there was no response he switched to asking the usual questions. Name, age, who'd you come to the mall with? Still, nothing. With a pat to the boys knee Blair stood and came to join the group that had been watching him.

"He's beyond any techniques I know. He's going to need some serious help. But, I figure, since no one's here to claim him his mom must be the woman they took to the hospital, it's the only thing that makes sense."

I don't know if it was my Sentinel hearing or not, but there was a collective sigh from the group of EMT's, police and bystanders involved. That apparently hadn't occurred to any of them, not even me. Blair turned to sit next to the boy, pulling a chair up to his side.

I knew what had to be done, all of us, even the civilians knew what the next step was. I turned to one of the uniforms.

"Better call Children's Services until we find out for sure if she's his mother, and then if there's any family that can take him."

Simmons stepped up.

"Is that necessary so soon? He's obviously traumatized, we could take him to the hospital."

I sighed, I didn't like it either.

"You know as well as I do that it won't do any good. They're not going to hold him without a physical injury, he'll still end up in foster care, unless they find his family. Then, hopefully he'll get the help he needs."

For the second time that day my ears were assaulted by a loud and unexpected sound. Someone at one of the food stands dropped their tray. The floor was tile and sound was emphasized in the large open space. Everyone jumped, well not everyone it turns out. When I turned back to Blair he was looking at me with a startled expression. He had the 'epiphany' look on his face. Blair was smart, he knew he was smart, but every now and then he surprised even himself. When he did, he got a look, this look, the 'how the hell did I miss that' look. He stood slowly and kneeled down in front of the boy again. He gave me a smile over his shoulder and started to ask all the questions again, this time without words.

I tease him about needing his hands to talk, now it was fact. Blair had noticed that while the rest of us jumped the boy hadn't, and of course American Sign Language was just one of the many languages my friend was fluent in. In a matter of minutes we had the boys name, Chris North. He was 7 seven years old and had been shopping with his mom. He'd wandered away from his mom and was in the back of the store when Parkman came in. He had no idea what was going on until he came out. He'd gotten involved in one of the video game displays and had lost track of time. When he realized he hadn't seen his mom in a while he came up front, to find the store empty of people and police everywhere. He wanted to know where his mom was. Simmons called the hospital and confirmed the woman's name was Sandra North. He also received the good news that her scans showed no serious brain damage and she should wake up at any time. Blair relayed this all to Chris and then asked who he could call to come and get him. The boy quickly gave him his father's work number. He told Blair that he would have 'said' something earlier but he didn't expect anyone to understand him. Blair laughed and the boy launched himself into his arms. One of the officers went to call the boy's father and Blair settled into the chair with Chris on his lap. Within minutes the boy was asleep.

It was only about 10 minutes later that a very happy and relieved Christopher North, Senior arrived to collect his son before heading to the hospital to check on his wife, who was now awake. He must have thanked Blair a hundred times in a matter of minutes. Blair of course, shrugged it off.

We watched two-thirds of the North family head down the escalator. One by one the EMT's and hostages came by to shake Blair's hand. I watched as he modestly refused to accept their praise. He was just a man doing his job. But it wasn't his job was it? His job was to teach, to study. Did he see this as a job? Being my partner? Despite how close we've become over the last three years do I know so little about my friend and roommate? My partner? Blair had told me before Incacha died that he already had enough information for 10 dissertations. I had forgotten that in the chaos that had followed. Now I pulled that fact out and examined it. Why was Blair still here, still going out on calls, risking his life, doing mountains of paperwork? Apparently we have a lot to talk about. First the self-esteem issue, now this. Blair is always after me to talk about myself and he usually gets his way. Looks like it's time for me to turn the tables. If Blair refuses I'll simply tell him that it can be his Christmas present to me. A glimpse inside the man I love.

Love?

Whoa, were had that come from. Out of left field apparently. I can be honest enough with myself. It's a shock but yeah, love.

By the time we got to the truck, which was parked at the curb, light still on the roof and flashing, I wanted to scream. This was just a normal Wednesday yet in the last hour I have come to the realization that a) Blair had developed some sort of acute self-esteem problem, b) Blair is apparently in this relationship for more than the dissertation, and, this one was the whopper c) I, Jim Ellison, am in love with my Guide.

So, I know what I want for Christmas, now to figure out what to get Blair. I have a pretty good idea, but how do you wrap love? Somehow I'm not afraid to tell him. Even if the feelings aren't returned Blair will find a way to make it work. After all, he never ceased to amaze me.

End


End file.
